


in the bleak midwinter

by thesunflowermachine



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Modern AU, One Shot, reposted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 09:30:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18688765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesunflowermachine/pseuds/thesunflowermachine
Summary: Arya's on the run. When she finds a listing online, she figures it's as good as any place to crash. The only problem is her new roommate.





	in the bleak midwinter

**Author's Note:**

> yada yada yada. i took this down years ago but i've decided to repost. thanks for reading. i love feedback, whatever that might be.

_Warmth_

_In the Bleak Midwinter_

The summer air was hot and humid when Arya parked the used car she bought with cash in an unpaved space next to the trailer she saw in the ad. Using the prepaid phone she bought at a gas station, Arya called the man who would be her new roommate.

“You're not exactly what I had in mind when I put up the ad,” Gendry said as he stood on the outside of his trailer with Arya.

She'd only met Gendry ten minutes ago, but Arya already thought she had a fair idea of what kind of man he was. He was stubborn and suspicious in addition to being, to her surprise, quite handsome in a rugged, woodsman-y, manly, and beefy sort of way.

Arya put her arms over her chest. “What where you looking for.”

His thick eyebrows narrowed. “For starters, I was thinking a man would answer the ad. Most women aren't looking to be sharing no trailer with some random man they've never met out by a lake.”

“I'm not most women,” Arya said, feeling even more annoyed by this burly pain in the ass.

Perhaps she had made a mistake coming here, but she needed to go somewhere under the radar for a while. The Kindly Man would be looking for his money. He'd wonder why she didn't do the job she was supposed to do. Until she figured out her next move, Arya needed to be underground.  So, she thought that the wilderness guy advertising for a roommate off Craigslist would be as good as any other hiding spot. Who would think to find Arya Stark here?

“I have the money,” Arya said, patting at her duffle bag.

His suspicious blue eyes surveyed her bag for a minute before looking at her face. He stayed ominously silent until he said, “You sure you're okay with this?”

Arya sighed. “Are you going to attack me or something?”

Gendry didn't look pleased. “ _No,_ I never said I'd do anything like that. I never would. I just want to make sure you're okay with living with a man. I don't have no girl or anything,” Gendry said before he suddenly turned toward the door.

Arya followed him.“That's fine by me. The listing said this place had an extra room with a bed.”

As the two entered the trailer, she saw that the place was sort of small and a bit untidy, but it wasn't a total disaster. But that wasn't a problem for Arya. In fact, she preferred it that way. She could only really feel at ease in a place if it was a bit messy.

Gendry nodded his head. “Yeah, there's a small room to the side on the left,” he said while pointing down the trailer's small hall of sorts.

Rather than wait for further instruction, hurried past the tall, burly, and surly man in order to arrive at her bedroom. Just as Gendry said, the room was small. There was only a small twin covered with thin, old sheets and a small, even older nightstand next to it.

“Home sweet home,” Arya muttered as she dropped her large duffel bag onto the bed. Right behind her, she felt the presence of her new roommate.

“Do you like it?” Gendry asked.

Arya turned to face it. “I love it. It's a real five star bedroom.”

His face didn't look pleased by her comment. “You know, I can decide not to let you move in if you're going to be a pain in the ass.”

Arya sighed. Sometimes it was better to lose some battles. “You're right. I didn't mean to be rude. The room's fine. Thanks for letting me move in. I know you don't know me or anything.”

He pushed his shaggy hair out of his blue eyes before replying with, “That's alright. You don't seem dangerous or anything.”

That made Arya curious. “What do I seem like?”

Suddenly, Gendry seemed very uncomfortable. His eyes flickered over her, up and down, before his face turned a bright shade of red. “You seem...nice.”

Arya nodded her head slowly. “ _Nice_.”

Giving an awkward shrug, Gendry just responded with, “I'll see you for dinner.”

As he left the room, Arya found herself wondering if he had some farmer's daughter he was fucking on the side. Even if he did, she thought this might be the start of something more interesting than she thought.

Gendry wasn't the type to pry. In fact, he was a bit of a quiet type. He wasn't a loner exactly since he had some odd friends like a plump baker and a hippie priest who would come over occasionally. Arya told them her name was Arry Underfoot. She told Gendry that she was on the run from a bad home, a bad guy. Of course, it wasn't all lies. She _was_ on the run from a bad home a bad guy. But it definitely wasn't the way Gendry was thinking.

For the most part, he was the kind of man who moved between annoyed and charmed by her. Arya was eighteen and old enough to tell when a man was interested in her. Gendry might be more of an adult at twenty-six, but she could see the way he looked at her. Sometimes he looked almost hungry when Arya would eat breakfast wearing only her big T-shirts while he sat not far off in their little breakfast table. Though Arya wondered if she was maybe projecting her own feelings onto him. Gendry was a handsome man, tall and built. His beard was shaggy but not unkempt. Best of all, he liked to eat breakfast without a shirt, and this view afforded Arya with a nice view of his upper half along with the series of tattoos he had all over his arms and chest.

Ultimately, the two of them fell into a groove. This was an inevitability of living in such small quarters. Gendry opened up to her after a few weeks of living together. Well, he opened up as much as a man like Gendry could. He told her that he was an orphan, that he did welding and other handy man sorts of jobs on the sides. He also could hunt. Arya liked that trait the most. She'd grown up in the woods of the north. She knew how to hunt and loved to do so. After she shared that with Gendry, they set up some traps and gone on a hunt for some fresh meat.

As the months went by, things between them became easier. They teased each other and didn't mind being so close to each other. Overall, the initial awkwardness of their first meeting dissipated.

And, yet, nothing compared to the winter that came over. The weather was unusually cold and winter came early in the year. The trailer had enough heat to get by, but it was still damned cold to Arya. Still, she and Gendry made do. By midwinter, things had only gone worse. One night was especially cold, so he made a lit some emergency candles for extra warmth.

“Are you feeling warmer?” Gendry asked with a blanket draped over him.

Meanwhile, Arya was on their small couch, huddled with a thick wool blanket. She felt cold, real cold like she felt in the winters of her youth back home. The feelings were strange. They were both unfamiliar and reminders of home.

“Yes,” Arya said in a manner that didn't seem to convince Gendry.

“Maybe we should...be closer. I'll turn on the TV,” he said hurriedly before Arya could object or say something smart.

Gendry only had a small television that was likely from the early 2000s. He could only get basic channels, but that was all they needed for now. W

Without asking, Gendry took a seat next to Arya on the couch. As much as Arya wanted to resist, the warmth of him was enticing. It wasn't long before she was resting on him while they watched television. There was some old sitcom reruns on, but Arya didn't pay any attention. Instead, she unwittingly had her gaze and attention focused on Gendry. He stared straight at the television, but Arya didn't think he was really paying attention. His face was red. His palms were sweaty. And he refused to move one of the tattered couch pillows off of his lap.

She felt so stupid when she finally realized what his problem was. Rather than pull away, Arya found herself feeling curious. Since her head was already cradled against his shoulder, Arya only leaned in closer, moving her head up to look at him more. Slowly, she started to kiss his shoulder, moving along to his neck.

“What are you doing---”Gendry said suddenly.

Not wanting to be swayed from her play, Arya said, “Nothing.”

If he wanted to stop the kisses, he said nothing, and he certainly didn't push her away. Rather, Arya felt his right arm pull her by the waist in order to be closer to him. His mouth also moved down to meet hers. And then they were kissing. It was sweet and tentative at first, but then Gendry seemed to have his mind made up about his choice when he  firmly stuck his tongue in her mouth. Then the kisses were hot and sticky and frenzied. Before she knew it, Arya was being lifted off the couch. Her arms were swung around his neck while her legs cradled his hips. And Arya knew he was carrying her to his bedroom.

Her small frame felt even smaller in comparison once Gendry lowered her onto his bed. Gendry never stopped kissing her, but he held himself above her with the use of his elbows. Occasionally, he'd forgo the use of one arm in order to squeeze some part of her.

Arya felt him rub between her legs. The feeling was one she wanted to feel more, to feel in truth, so she rubbed back in encouragement. Hearing Gendry's grunt was all Arya needed to hear as she slipped her hand underneath his sweaters.

_He's warm_

Gendry felt so warm underneath his clothes that Arya couldn't keep herself from running her hands all over his chest. Without being prompted, Gendry swiftly got up on his knees and took his shirt off. Before Arya could say anything, he moved down and yanked her shirt off, too. When he saw she wasn't wearing a bra, Gendry moved down to kiss her breasts, sucking and dragging his teeth across the nipples.  Sighing at the sensations, Arya roamed her hands over his shoulders and arms while squeezing on the muscles. He was hard and rough the way she imagined he would feel all those times they would get too close or when she saw him look especially handsome.

Eventually, feeling like she couldn't stand the ache any longer, Arya pulled him by the hair as he was kissing her stomach. In the candlelight, she could see his blue eyes were darker than usual and they were wide with that hunger she thought she'd seen before.

“Gendry,” she said in a hoarse whisper.

“Yeah?” he asked in a low, strangely sleepy tone.

“You gonna fuck me or what? Or are you gonna be a wuss?” Arya asked with a laugh. 

Gendry got a stupid grin on her face. “You're asking for it,” he said slyly before he pinched her ass and got back up on his knees.

 _Such a gentleman_ , Arya thought dryly as Gendry yanked off her sweatpants and thermal underwear at once. He only left her long socks. “I like the way you look with them on,” Gendry said as he gave her one last look before he moved to take off his own bottoms and underwear.

Grabbing a large fur blanket from the old drawers by his bed, Gendry covered it over the pair as he positioned himself atop Arya.

“Gendry, wait---”

“What?” Gendry asked, clearly ready to go.

Arya bit her lip. “I've never fucked before.”

His eyes rounded in what appeared to be surprise. “Alright, then. I won't be too rough.”

That made Arya roll her eyes. “Shut up, idiot. I don't need to be handled with kid's gloves. Just don't go shoving it in at first.”

Gendry gave a fake laughing face before he pulled the blanket over them completely.

Dropping his voice to a deep whisper, Gendry said, “Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I think I love you too much like the idiot you say I am.”

That, more than anything in a long time, took Arya by shock. Since she couldn't think of anything to say, Arya kissed him back. Kissed him to let him know, and let herself know, that she loved him, too. He grew on her.

When the morning came, the sun finally peered out from the sky and shone light into the trailer's windows.

While it was still cold, it felt positively warm compared to the night before. After waking up, Arya sat up in bed and stared at the slumbering man before her. She stroked the matted, shaggy hair on his head.

 _He looks even more beautiful in the daylight_ , she thought.

Without thinking, Arya whispered, “I love you.”

He was asleep and would never hear it. Or so she thought.

“I heard that,” Gendry said, his head still buried in his pillow.

Warmth came and went as the cold did, but Arya Stark felt like she finally could grasp it.


End file.
